English Muffins from 'Vegan Brunch'

Wow, these turned out soooo good! I've been wanting to make them ever since I got Vegan Brunch but never got around to it; probably due to there being vegan English muffins in the shops in the UK. I have not been able to find any here in Ireland though - not a problem though, just a good excuse to finally try this recipe! Those are from my first attempt and they turned out brilliantly, that really is a fine cookbook :-) 

No recipe here of course as these came from a cookbook and I didn't make a single change, sorry! But, you all have Vegan Brunch, right?? :-) You can also have a look at my previous post on Vegan Brunch for how I fared with the Banana French Toast and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.

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Pineapple, Cashew and Mushroom Fried Rice

Threw this together the other night and it is really, really good. I love pineapple in fried rice and decided to add some of the flavours in my beanburger, mainly the worcester sauce and smoked paprika as the flavours go so well with pineapple. Have made this a few times now - easy and yum! 

Pineapple, Cashew and Mushroom Fried Rice

Serves 2

• 150g basmati rice, dry weight (white or wholegrain)
• 100g onion, chopped (I've also used shallots)
• 200g mushrooms, sliced
• 100g pineapple chunks, or about 3 rings, sliced into chunks.
• 2 cloved garlic, minced or chopped finely
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 25g cashews, roughly chopped and toasted.
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp vegan worcester sauce (Biona Organic is fab!)
• 1 Tbsp peanut oil
• hot smoked paprika
• freshly ground black pepper

Cook the rice according to package instructions (I recommend NOT salting the water here as the dish is seasoned enough and the rice may absorb too much salt). 

Meanwhile heat the peanut oil in a wok on high. Add the onion and mushrooms and fry on high heat with a few grinds of black pepper until they start to sweat. Pop a lid on a cook a few minutes more, stirring now and again. When cooked and liquid is gone reduce heat to low and add the garlic, cook 1 minute. Add the drained cooked rice, soy and worcester sauces, pineapple, cashews and spring onion and fry stirring until heated through and everything is well coated.

Lastly serve with a dusting of hot smoked paprika. For those of you in the UK or Ireland I highly recommend this Tesco brand one. So many smoked paprika's have no heat but this one would rival cayenne pepper in the heat department and the heat really compliments this dish. If not, just a regular smoked paprika would do.

Nutritional Information - per serving

Calories: 456

Fat: 10.3g

Sat Fat: 1.3g

Protein: 12.5g

Fibre: 4g

Carbs: 81.5g

Sugars: 12.9g

Sodium: 1063mg

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Creamy Spicy Tomato Vodka AND a Creamy Almond Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce

Well, the new year diet is going very well. I've lost 10 pounds so far and am eating so much healthier. It's all been very delicious just not very 'bloggable'. You know what I mean, lots of stir fries chock full of veg and light curries....delicious but nothing anyone can't throw together! So, I'm not really in the kitchen creating anything new these days :-)

This, however, has been a basic sauce in our house for quite a while now. I searched online for a vodka sauce as I was curious to try one and came across this one (**edit - see below!). It looked interesting as it used almonds to create the creaminess as opposed to the traditional cream. It is dead easy to make, very versatile and absolutely delicious. The original recipe blended in sliced almonds but I thought I would make it easier by just using ground almonds, or almond meal/flour. It works so well, when you add the almonds the sauce changes from bright red to a creamier looking orange and the sweetness of the almonds counters the sharpness of the tomato perfectly. I've been using ground almonds in loads of sauces now to get the same creamy effect, it's brilliant!

I was also thinking this sauce would make a great pizza sauce, because basically, if I can find any new way of combining booze and pizza, I will :-) So I made my standard pizza base then made this sauce but simply cooked it down a little more so it wasn't as runny as a pasta sauce. Spread it over the base, topped with whatever I fancied at the time, bit of cheezly and baked. It was so good!

Creamy Spicy Tomato Vodka Sauce:

-recipe serves 2 as a pasta sauce

1/2 tsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/8 tsp chilli flakes

250g passata (creamed tomatoes/plain tomato sauce)

1 Tbsp vodka

1/8 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour)

fresh basil

freshly ground black pepper

*If making pasta for two I would add 200g dry pasta for a main dish*

First mix together the passata, vodka, salt and dry herbs - set aside. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan on low heat and gently fry the garlic and chilli for about a minute. It will get really fragrant but be careful not to burn the garlic - not nice! Add the tomato mixture, stir well, put the lid on and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes, stir now and again. It will cook down slightly and get thicker. Stir in the almonds and fresh basil and stir well, it will change in colour and get creamy looking. Add a few grinds of pepper and that's it! Pour over your cooked pasta and enjoy :-)

As this is a very basic recipe it is quite versatile too. In regards to the herbs, I think I've used a different selection every time I've made this, from just oregano, to just thyme, to both, to basil to an 'Italian blend' mixed herbs etc... Just use whatever you have - the recipe is very forgiving. I've even made this with balsamic vinegar in place of the vodka when I discovered quite late that I didn't have any, was still delicious.

Source: Recipe based on this one.
** Edit - was just looking through my Veganomicon cookbook and realized this recipe actually comes from there! So to give credit where credit is due - it's really from Veganomicon!!** (cheeky other site!)

Nutritional Analysis: just the sauce, whole recipe.
Calories: 196
Protein: 6.2g
Fat: 18.1g
Sat Fat: 0.8g
Fibre: 4.8g
Carbs: 14g
Sugars: 9.3g
Calcium: 35.4mg
Sodium: 397.7mg

♥

*2012 Edit - I've since made a new variation on this sauce that we are having much more often than the vodka one. My son couldn't have the spice anyway and to be honest, I really couldn't see what difference the vodka was making in there. I did however love the idea of using almonds to make a tomato sauce creamy and came up with this basic tomato basil sauce using almonds for creaminess, body and their natural sweetness counters the acidity of tomatoes perfectly. THIS is now our standard pasta sauce recipe :-) Recipe serves 3.

Creamy Almond Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce

320g passata

100ml water

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried oregano

freshly ground black pepper

3 Tbsp ground almonds

2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

300g pasta - spaghetti is nice here

Blend the passata, ground almonds and water in a blender until smooth and creamy looking. In a saucepan heat the olive oil and add the onion, fry gently with a few grinds of black pepper until the onion is soft then stir in the garlic. Add the tomato sauce, salt and herbs and stir well, bring to a simmer, put the lid on and simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened and slightly reduced. Turn off the heat and stir in the fresh basil. Pour over freshly drained pasta and return to the heat for a couple of minutes, stirring well until everything is well coated and hot. Serve immediately.

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Cinnamon Buns with Vanilla Glaze

Well, Happy New Year to you all!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well. We had a fantastic time in the new house. I had 9 people over for Christmas Eve dinner - my first time cooking for so many and it went really well. Everyone loved the vegan dinner (I hope!) I made my Tourtiere with mushroom gravy as per last year but this time made it with puy lentils instead of soy mince and you know what? It's even better that way! I will definitely be making it every Christmas now with lentils. With that we had stuffing, maple roasted parsnips and carrots, mashed potato and brussel sprouts and petite pois in a lemon hazelnut 'butter'. For dessert I did a traditional Danish almond rice pudding then laid out a smorgasbord of desserts - marzipan mince pies, hot toddy cupcakes, nanaimo bars and mint chocolate thins. Phew.... It was a lot of work but I thoroughly enjoyed it :-)

Now, after all that the diet has commenced :-) Seriously, I am no longer a UK size 6/8 and NOT happy!! This should come as no surprise if you've seen my past few posts ;-) So why the decadent Cinnamon Buns? Well, I made these well before Christmas but never got the opportunity to post them and they are so amazingly good it would be a crying shame not to share the recipe!!

I have made cinnamon buns before and was very happy with the recipe but I did use egg replacer in those (which I am phasing out of my baking) and I really wanted to try and veganize my mom's cinnamon bun recipe - which is the world's best ;-) Her's called for Jello brand vanilla pudding mix and it really makes a light, moist, perfect textured cinnamon bun. Now, that stuff may or may not be vegan, I have no idea as you can't even buy it here so I replaced that with Alpro Soya Vanilla pudding. It's not a mix but pre-made so was able to just omit the eggs and alter the dry/wet ingredients a bit. They turned out perfect! Reminded me just of my mom's - lovely flavour and light, moist texture. Now, I always find that the icing drizzle on cinnamon buns is never enough so dipped these entirely in a vanilla glaze while they were warm giving an all over yummy glaze. Damn, hating that I'm on a diet now!!

Cinnamon Buns:
1/4 cup (60 ml) warm water
1 sachet (7g dry yeast)
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) rice milk
1/2 cup (125ml) Alpro Soya Vanilla Pudding
1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
about 4 cups (550g) plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
Filling:
melted vegan margarine
3 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup light brown sugar
Glaze:
250g icing sugar
3 Tbsp hot water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Dissolve the sugar in the warm water then sprinkle over the yeast and let sit until frothy - about 10 minutes. Whisk well. Mix the pudding, rice milk and oil together then whisk it into the yeast mixture. Mix the flour and salt together then add that to everything and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together. Knead gently for 4 minutes add more flour if it's sticky, form into a ball then place in a warm oiled bowl, cover with cling film and place in a warm place to rise - about 1 hour. When doubled in bulk place on a floured surface and roll out into a large rectangle - about 12 " long. Brush with melted marg then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture generously over the top (you may not need all of it). Now, roll it up from the long side and seal the edge. Slice into 9 slices and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake at 350F/180C for about 20 minutes or until puffy and slightly golden. Let cool on a wire rack for a little bit then glaze while still warm but no longer hot. For the glaze simply whisk everything together until smooth then take each bun and dip entirely into the glaze, make sure each one is thoroughly coated then place back on a wire rack with baking paper underneath for the glaze to set. They are good at any time but especially good once the glaze has set but they are still warm :-)

Now, I haven't tried this yet but I know this recipe would make fantastic doughnuts!! After rising, roll out the same and cut out rings with a doughnut cutter or something that would give you that shape. Deep fry in hot vegetable oil until golden on both sides and drain on paper towels. Dip in the same glaze while still warm and leave to set. Or you can ice them with any of the ones I used in my last doughnut post :-)

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Big Chocolate Chip Orange Cookies

Well, these are another gem from the Canadian Living 2010 Holiday Baking Magazine, and, unlike the last post, this one was already vegan! Well, more or less, it did call for unsalted butter which I replaced with half vegan margarine and half vegetable fat (shortening). I did this as I use Vitalite which I love but find it very soft in baking. I find adding half vegetable fat gives the baked goods more structure and support. Of course if you find whatever vegan margarine you use gives you success then just use straight vegan margarine.

The orange is gorgeous in this but you can just omit that for a plain chocolate chip cookie. Altogether a very yummy success! I'll post my version here with all the grams but for those of you who prefer cups etc. the recipe is on their website. Just a note, you will need to chill the dough for 2 hours before baking, so they do need a little forward planning :-) If you can't wait, I have updated my standard Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe based on this one, it's quick and delicious too!

Big Chocolate Chip Orange Cookies
Recipe stated 26 cookies, I got 16 (I think! forgot to count!!)

90g vegan margarine
90g vegetable fat (shortening) room temperature
70g caster sugar
65g light muscovado sugar (light brown)
210g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g vegan chocolate chips

In a stand mixer add the vegetable fat, margarine and sugars. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and orange zest and beat well. In a separate bowl add the flour, baking powder, soda and salt and whisk well. Add this to the butter/sugar mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it almost comes together. Add the chocolate chips and stir well, the mixture will seem a bit dry but that's fine. Bring it together tightly and form into a 10" log shape. Wrap in cling film and roll back and forth until you have a nice rotund log shape. Pop into the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Slice the log into 3/4" slices and place 1" apart on the baking sheet. I found mine didn't look very round after cutting so reformed them a bit with my hands here. Pop in the preheated oven for 12 - 15 minutes or until the edges start to look slightly golden. Cool on tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to fully cool.

Source: Canadian Living Holiday Baking Magazine and online.

It was hard to keep the boy out of this picture!! 

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Eggnog Knots

Wahey! My mom sent me the latest Canadian Living Holiday Baking magazine!! Thanks Mom!! Those of you  who have followed me for awhile know I get this magazine every year and have great fun veganizing whatever I can :-) This year's was slightly different though as it was all cookies - no complaints here! Furthermore, the back even listed all the cookies that don't contain egg or dairy. Nice. So, what's the first cookie I make from it? One that needs veganizing, of course ;-) These just sounded so good, I do love my eggnog, click here for my drink recipe, and thought these looked very cute. So cute in fact I even copied their styling for my photo!

These are seriously good, the recipe called for an egg yolk which I was going to replace with just some cornstarch but then thought Birds custard powder would be better. It's basically just cornstarch anyway but the added colour makes it even look like an egg yolk! Well, they turned out perfect, the texture of these cookies is sublime, they really do melt in the mouth and the dough is so easy to work with. I wasn't however, that keen on their glaze for these. It was icing sugar, rum and nutmeg and I just found it a bit too bitter, too much rum perhaps? Yeah, I can't believe I'm saying that either..... So I had another go and made some Maple Cinnamon Knots. I didn't take a picture of these as they looked the same, just a little darker but were by far my favourites, whiskey and cinnamon flavours in the cookie then glazed in a maple glaze - lovely!

I'll post both versions here as really, I was the only one not too keen on the eggnog version, husband and in-laws both loved it. Basically you can change the flavours in these to whatever you like, you don't even have to add a spice, they would be nice just vanilla too. Recipe makes 20 'knots'.

Eggnog Knots:
50g vegan margarine
50g vegetable fat (shortening)
40g caster sugar (or granulated)
1/2 Tbsp Bird's custard powder
1/2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp dark rum
140g plain flour
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
Glaze:
110g icing sugar
2 Tbsp dark rum
1 tsp water
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Maple Cinnamon Knots:
50g vegan margarine
50g vegetable fat (shortening)
40g caster sugar (or granulated)
1/2 Tbsp Bird's Custard powder
1/2 Tbsp water
140g plain flour
1 Tbsp whiskey
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Maple Glaze:
110g icing sugar
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp hot water

Preheat oven to 150C / 300F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. In a large bowl mix the butter and vegetable fat until well blended. Add the sugar and whisk until light and fluffy. In a small bowl mix the custard powder with the water until dissolved. Add this to the butter mixture and whisk well, then whisk in the rum or whiskey. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt and spice. Add this to the wet mixture and stir until it just comes together, use your hands at the end if need be and form into a log.

Divide this into half. Roll one half into a 10" log shape then cut into 1" pieces. Repeat with the other half. Take each 1" piece and roll into a ball then into a 6" long rope. Tie into a knot, well, they say 'tie' really you are placing it into a knot shape then put it on the baking sheet. They don't get much bigger so they can be fairly close together here, just make sure they are not touching. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden underneath and firm to the touch. (Mine took the full 30).

Mix the glaze ingredients together in a heatproof bowl and whisk until smooth. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water - make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl and heat the glaze up until it is slightly warm.

Now take your still warm cookies and dunk in the glaze making sure they are entirely coated. Remove with a couple forks and place on a wire rack with baking paper underneath to catch the drips. Repeat until all are coated then leave to set and cool.

Source: Canadian Living Holiday Cookies Magazine, and Online.

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Mint Chocolate Thins

White chocolate covered mint cookie and Mint dark chocolate covered chocolate cookie.

I have a new favourite cookie!! These come courtesy of Heidi Swanson in her fab cookbook, Super Natural Cooking. I absolutely love this book and have been wanting to make these for awhile now. The original recipe called for an egg white and butter, pretty easy to veganize really, vegan marg for the butter and in the end I just omitted the egg white and they turned out perfect! The first time I made these I replaced the icing sugar with fondant icing sugar. It did make the dough slightly easier to work with and the texture perhaps a bit finer but as I know that is a hard to find ingredient tried them again with just regular icing sugar and they turned out just as good.

Her recipe was a plain chocolate cookie covered in chocolate mint and was sublime. However I kept thinking they would be really good covered in white chocolate. For these I flavoured the cookie mint and left the white chocolate plain. I think these where actually our favourite here, but both are seriously good! 

These quantities are scaled down and make about 9 cookies, just double or triple as you like (they will go fast!) I decorated the white chocolate cookies with some red and green edible glitter flakes I found which happened to be vegan. I also would have liked to have double dipped them but as 2 packages of white chocolate buttons only covered 5 cookies decided that would end up way too pricey!

Mint Chocolate covered Chocolate Thins:

50g vegan margarine
50g icing sugar, fondant is nice but not essential
25g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp vanilla
60g plain flour
pinch salt
125g dark chocolate
1/4 - 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

White Chocolate covered Mint Chocolate Thins:

50g vegan margarine
50g icing sugar, fondant is nice but not essential
25g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
60g plain flour
pinch salt
125g vegan white chocolate buttons (5 bags)

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

In a large bowl cream the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla (or peppermint extract if making the white chocolate version) salt and cocoa powder and mix well. Add the flour and mix until it just comes together, it’s fine if it’s still crumbly – don’t overmix! Gather the dough up into a ball and give it a couple kneads just to bring it all together. Press it down into a disc shape and wrap in cling film then pop it in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

Dust your counter with some flour and flour your rolling pin. Roll the dough out quite thin – about 1/8” thick. Cut out shapes using whatever size or shape cookie cutter you like. I used a round one with a fluted edge. Place the cookies on the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.  Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies fully cool.

When the cookies are cool make the chocolate dip – melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Add the peppermint extract, taste and add more if you like. (Omit the peppermint extract if making the white choc version.)


Dip the cookies in the chocolate and turn over using 2 forks. Remove from the bowl letting all the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl then place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Repeat with all the cookies. If you want to add sprinkles, do it now before the chocolate sets. Now place the cookies in the fridge for the chocolate coating to set.

Source: Adapted from Heidi Swanson's All Natural Thin Mint Recipe.

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Christmas Cookies

Snowball Cake Pops

Hot Toddy Cupcakes

Afternoon tea....just got interesting!  I don't really know why I decided to make these but am sure glad I did. I absolutely love hot toddies, never even heard of them until my first winter in Ireland many years ago and they quickly became my favourite winter tipple. The flavours of lemon, cloves and whiskey are so simple but just perfect in a warm drink, and, I started to think, perfect for a cupcake.

These really turned out well, and amazingly taste just like a hot toddy!! So often flavours in a cupcake can get 'lost' but not here, the lemon, cloves and whiskey all come shining through. The cloves are possibly just a tad too strong though, I added 1/2 tsp but think that 1/4 tsp would be too little. Next time I may try something in-between. They are so very yummy though, the texture is perfect - really nice and light and definitely an 'adult' only cupcake ;-)

Hot Toddy Cupcakes:
120ml soy cream
60ml rice milk
2 Tbsp Irish whiskey (I use Jameson)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (sieve out seeds and pulp)
zest of 1 lemon
175g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp cornstarch (cornflour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves *see blurb above
80ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g caster sugar

Whiskey Buttercream Frosting:
40g vegetable fat (shortening)
50g vegan margarine
270g icing sugar
1 Tbsp Irish Whiskey
zest of 1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Mix together the soy cream and rice milk then stir in the whiskey and lemon juice. Now, it will curdle big time, not just get flaky looking but thicken up and look positively revolting!! That's all ok - you want that to happen :-) Set aside. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, soda, salt and cloves and set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and the soy cream curdled mixture until very well blended and sugar seems to be dissolved. It shouldn't look curdled any more. Add the dry ingredients to this and whisk until just blended and no lumps remain. Fill muffin tins until almost full up, you will probably have some batter left over, I get 14 cupcakes out of this. Bake in preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until golden and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to fully cool.

To make the frosting, soften the vegetable fat first with a fork, then add the margarine and whisk well until well blended. Add half the icing sugar and all the whiskey and mix well. Add the rest of the icing sugar and mix well. You may need a touch more whiskey and or icing sugar. Just keep adding what you need until you get a smooth spreadable frosting. Now stir in the lemon zest.

Frost each cupcake as you like - I decorated with whole cloves, even though you have to remove them before eating I thought they looked very cute!

Recipe loosely based on Vegan Cupcakes take Over the World's Golden Vanilla Cupcakes and frosting :-)

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Marzipan Mince Pies with Rummed Up Vegan Whipped Cream

Well hello again!!!!  I'm back, I'm back!!! First of all, apologies for the extended blog holiday, we really thought we would be living in the new house in September but that turned into October, then November! We are however now in, have slept here twice now and simply love it. The house is amazing, I still can't believe the size of my kitchen, it's an absolute joy to cook and bake in - especially compared to my last closet sized kitchen!

Furthermore, I am loving Ireland. I knew I would as we came here often before but it's even better now :-) All in all, life is grand!! (picking up the lingo ;-)) Thank you all for sticking around and a warm welcome to all my new followers! Thank you :-) Now, back to the FOOD!

I last made these years ago, back in the vegetarian days and you can find these on my old blog. I've been seeing all the mince pies popping up in the shops and had a serious craving, even if it is a wee bit early ;-) Sure, a lot of the store bought pies are vegan but these really are lovely - a little disc of marzipan lines each little tart and the pastry has a little lemon zest in it - very nice. The cream was a total experiment but we both loved it with these, sweet, rummy and vegan - what's not to love?? ;-)

Marzipan Mince Pies with Rummed up Vegan Whipped Cream

200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
100g vegetable fat/shortening
about 120ml ice water
about 85g white marzipan
mincemeat, store bought, check vegan

Rum Whipped Cream

150g soya whipping cream from a carton, well chilled, or chilled coconut cream
50g icing sugar
1 Tbsp dark rum

First make your pastry, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in the vegetable fat until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest and sugar. Add the ice water and stir with a fork until the mixture just comes together, you don't want it too wet. Gather into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200C and have a 12 hole mince pie tart tin ready. Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to sit for 5 - 10 min. Roll out and cut out circles to fit your pie tin, save all the scraps. Now take the marzipan and roll it out. Cut out circles to fit the inside of the pastry lined tarts, you can have a look at my old blog for a photo of this. Spoon in the marzipan, about 1 Tbsp per tart, depending on the size of your pan. Re-roll the scraps and cut out shapes for the tops, I used hearts and stars here. Place the shapes on top of the tarts then bake for about 15 - 18 minutes, or until tarts are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove tarts to a cooling rack.

To make the cream, simply whisk together the soya cream, icing sugar and rum until light and fluffy - store in the fridge. Tarts are good warm or room temperature, with a big dollop of cream and steaming mug of coffee :-)

♥ 2012 Edit ♥

Not that the above pastry isn't delicious, it is, I just decided to try another one that is more based on my standard pastry as it is soooo flaky. This is an alternative pastry recipe for you and really, really good :-) Recipe will make just enough for 12 mince pies using a tart pan, if using a muffin tin or something else "deep dish" you may want to double it.

Alternate Pastry:

1 cup flour

88g cold shortening (1/3 cup + 2 tsp)

2 Tbsp cold water

1 tsp white vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp golden caster sugar (or just granulated)

zest of 1 orange or lemon 

Add the flour, salt, sugar, zest and shortening to a food processor and process until well mixed and the shortening is not noticeable. With the motor running slowly add the cold water and vinegar until it is moist but still crumbly. Tip out onto a surface and bring together into a ball then flatten it down to a disc and wrap in cling film then chill for 1/2 hour. 

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New Beginnings!!

Well, this will be my last post for awhile as we leave in 2 days now I will be without internet or a kitchen!! Didn't think I would get another post in but this beautiful and super yummy vegan carrot cake was made for us for a leaving party and I just had to blog it! It was made by http://cakesbyverna.co.uk/ who has a stall at Brick Lane Market and comes highly recommended, she makes simply beautiful and delicious cakes.....and vegan too, yay!! :-)

I probably won't get to blog for quite awhile as we are building our own house and the kitchen isn't even fitted yet, but will if I can! Thank you all for following and hope you continue to for the next stage :-)

Bye for now.....
-Deb

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